Scan barcode
A review by ndenitto
Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut
2.0
The unthinkable has happened.
I've read a Kurt Vonnegut book I didn't enjoy.
This is Kurt's first book, and it reaaaally shows. There are hints of the signature style that makes Kurt's later works brilliant, but mostly this is a typically structured novel that feels like it's just trying to be 1984.
Dr. Paul Proteus is a manager of the Ilium Works factory at a time when all meaningful work is done by machines. The average man is forced to join the army (more of a group pretending to be the army) or join a group of manual laborers which have very little work to actually do. With all work done by machines and overseen by select engineers and managers, there's not much left in the world that makes people feel useful. They have everything they need, but they don't feel as though they've earned it. Proteus is disenchanted with his life, and gets swept up in a rebellion against the machines.
It's an OK book, but pretty dull.
I've read a Kurt Vonnegut book I didn't enjoy.
This is Kurt's first book, and it reaaaally shows. There are hints of the signature style that makes Kurt's later works brilliant, but mostly this is a typically structured novel that feels like it's just trying to be 1984.
Dr. Paul Proteus is a manager of the Ilium Works factory at a time when all meaningful work is done by machines. The average man is forced to join the army (more of a group pretending to be the army) or join a group of manual laborers which have very little work to actually do. With all work done by machines and overseen by select engineers and managers, there's not much left in the world that makes people feel useful. They have everything they need, but they don't feel as though they've earned it. Proteus is disenchanted with his life, and gets swept up in a rebellion against the machines.
It's an OK book, but pretty dull.